The Emporium Hotel, overlooking the Brisbane River from South Bank, is extra. This family-run hotel goes extra on the décor, extra on the thoughtful touches, extra on the mod-cons and extra on the customer service. There’s nothing minimalist about the place.
If you don’t notice it the moment you enter the foyer, decorated with big, bold prints and colour, you’ll notice it in the selfie-riffic lifts – the lift walls are digital screens that pop with moving pictures, transitioning from bright purple tropical ferns and flowers to a beachside scene, a serpent, a map of Brisbane city, through to pops of orange colour.
Enter your room and the curtains will automatically draw – the room I stay in is on the river side of the building, so they open to display a vista of the Brisbane River, the Streets (fake) Beach below, and the CBD across the water.
Better yet, this is the first Australian hotel to be EarthCheck design certified. But my favourite thing about the hotel is the clever use of tech to enhance your experience – the curtains that open when you return to the room also auto-close when you leave. There’s a huge, gold-framed mirror on the wall opposite my king bed that takes me ages to discover is actually a TV screen. There are clearly marked buttons that allow you to perfectly customise the lighting throughout the bedroom and bathroom. And the glass wall next to the big, deep spa bath can turn from clear to completely frosted with the touch of a button. Rather than being confusing and not working like some hotel room tech, it’s simple and seamless, and ups the luxe factor.
Head up to level 21 and you’ll find a well-equipped gym with nice views, a sauna and steam room, and an infinity pool looking out over the River. There are pretty frilled umbrellas over the sun beds, and you can order drinks and food direct to you from the adjacent Terrace restaurant and bar.
The Terrace is also where you can have breakfast – and it's a sophisticated, a la carte affair that the public can also access for $40 all inclusive. They’ll bring you a plate of seasonal fruit, pastries, a yoghurt pot, coffee or tea, and your choice of breakfast mains from the menu. I order the smoked salmon with a slice of potato rosti, two poached eggs and a green salsa. In the afternoon The Terrace turns into a rooftop bar.
Reserve Wine Bar, the piano bar in the lobby, is perfect for a pre-dinner cocktail or an exploration of the wine menu. They have more than 3,000 varieties of wine by the bottle or glass, and even a personal wine concierge to help you experience it. Again, the décor is extra – oversized red velvet and also zebra-print armchairs, a huge yellow and clear glass chandelier hanging over the bar, lit wine racks line the walls, and there are swirly cut-outs when you look up, so there are varying heights to the ceiling.
For a special dinner, head to Signature Restaurant on level 2, a fine-diner with a six-course tasting menu and wine pairing available, as well as a la carte options. Dine underneath the huge, glowing, yellow oval disk on the ceiling – covered in what appear to be hundreds of different-shaped glass balls that look like bubbles.
We didn’t stay in a premier suite, but guests who do have the benefit of complimentary access to an inner-city chauffeur service in the hotel’s 2023 Maserati Grecale Luxury SUV.
Considering that everyone we encounter in the hotel goes above and beyond, it’s not surprising to learn that the hotel’s Chief Concierge Jimmy Barker has been awarded membership to Les Clefs d’Or Australia, a recognition of impeccable service standards. Brisbane-born Barker’s interest in hospitality was sparked at age 13 when he met the Chief Concierge at the Savoy Hotel in London – so after starting at Emporium Hotels as a porter, progressing to concierge, then Chief Concierge, it’s no wonder he’s the youngest concierge in Australia to receive the accolade.
Jimmy and the hotel frame their approach to customer service as the Three Es: Ease, Effectiveness and Emotion. And we'd add one more: Extra.
